Moments
by fiesa
Summary: Naruto OneShot Collection. Life consists of many fleeting moments after eachother. Moments #9: Final Chapter. Sakura sneaks into the dark house unnoticed.
1. 2  Returning

**#2 – Returning**

_Summary: Kakashi hates this place. Still, he returns, again and again. _

_Characters: Rin, Kakashi_

_Warnings: no fluff! Angst, rather. Last chance to leave._

_Set: most un-canonishly in my own private Naruto-verse, when Kakashi´s around 28_

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* * *

_

The smell bites into his nostrils.

It's a smell typical for this building – maybe he hates it so much because of the smell. Maybe he hates the smell because of this building. Maybe he's just being irrational. Kakashi doesn't really care.

The room is small and almost – _almost – _inviting. There are curtains in front of the window and flowers on the bedside table, and a small, fragile person is sitting in the chair at the window, glancing into the sky over Konoha. Brown hair falls down to her shoulders. Rin doesn't turn around when he enters. He can't remember when she has looked at him – _really looked at him – _the last time.

"Rin."

She doesn't stir at the sound of his voice. Rin, the girl he has known for almost all his life, continues to stare at something far off in the distance. He walks around the chair so he can see her profile clearly.

Her small face, the curve of her cheek-bones, the soft, pink lips. Her brown eyes are devoid of any emotion and somewhat… _cold._ He'd never thought she'd ever seem that cold and unemotional to him, Rin, the girl – the woman – who cared about other people more that about herself. He knows he's at fault – he is the one to blame for having her like this. This is his punishment – seeing Rin stare off into the distance, not listening to him, not reacting, not even acknowledging his presence.

Kakashi carefully positions himself against the wall and pushes his hands into his pockets. He can already feel his nails biting into his skin but the pain is nothing compared to what he feels when he looks at her. _Punishment._ He was the one who wasn't able to save her. He wasn't fast enough – not even slightly – to save her from the torture she has faced. He has failed her – failed Obito – failed his Sensei. He is one great failure, and he knows it. He can't even protect the people precious to him.

"Tsunade-sama gave me another S-rank mission, that makes the second one in one month. It's getting hard for her to find enough shinobi to keep Konoha running. You know – these times – war times – aren't easy. They weren't when we were younger and they still aren't now."

He takes a deep breath and tries to relax. His arms are bandaged in three different places; his side still aches from the stab wound he has taken. He feels empty and utterly exhausted and afraid to fall asleep, afraid of being alone. There's only so much pressure a person can stand until one breaks.

"Akatsuki was no easy opponent and these new guys – Hikari – aren't, either. The only difference is that they act on orders. There's nothing worse than politicians employing criminal organizations to enforce their will."

Night falls, slowly. The sun is setting in a golden and red and orange glow, touching Rin's hair, her face, smoothing out the lines and lighting her eyes. Suddenly, she seems like the Rin he always knew.

"I haven't visited Obito for three weeks. He'd laugh at the amount of trouble I've gotten myself into. He'd hit me for what I've gotten you into, too…"

His voice sounds strangled. It's not the first time he thinks those words but it's the first time he says them out loud in ten years. Interesting, how much the brush of death can make a person think about his life.

"I promised him. And I meant it. Now look what I've done to both of us."

Rin doesn't answer. She never does. She just continues to look out of the window, her hands folded in her lap.

Carefully, he leans down and brushes aside some strands of her brown hair. She doesn't move. He has thought about it for days – being imprisoned and tortured and starved – hating himself more and more. If that's what Rin had to go through, he deserves to die. He deserves to be killed – by either her or Obito. But neither one of his friends is alive any more. He leans down further until his face is millimeters from hers. Her eyes don't look at him. Carefully, he touches her lips and dread washes over him – what is he doing? Is he betraying Obito again?

He straightens again and prepares to leave.

Suddenly, something tugs at his vest.

Kakashi freezes and whirls around to stare at Rin. She has turned her head, slightly, and is smiling at him. It's the Rin he remembers – soft and caring and delicate. He doesn't dare to move.

"Kakashi," Rin whispers. "It's good to see you."

He still hasn't moved, afraid to break the spell lying on him. Brown eyes watch him almost amused. Then, they cloud over and for a moment, her body turns rigid. It's over as fast as it started: her eyes lose focus, her hand falls down again. She's gone once more.

Without another word, Kakashi flees her hospital room.


	2. 3 Seeing

**#3 – Seeing**

_Friday of Strange Updates, #5_**  
**

_Summary: There are always things one sees for the first time even if they have been around for a while. _

_Characters: Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto_

_Warnings: -  
_

_Set: Alternate Reality#1, a few years after Sasuke's not-defection _

_

* * *

_

Midday sun is shining brightly, warming the roofs and the streets of Konoha. People chat and laugh and shout. It's a blanket of familiar, soothing sounds that washes over Sasuke as he waits for his friends to arrive.

They're in town, all three of them, which is rare and which is why they agreed to have lunch together today. At Naruto's immediate mentioning of Ichirakus' and ramen, both Sasuke and Sakura had sighted and told him to pick another restaurant. Or, rather, Sasuke had told him. Sakura had _forced him _to comply. Naruto had been grinning from ear to ear. Sasuke was beginning to suspect ramen wasn't Naruto's actual favorite food, maybe he just pretended because he knew how annoying it was to his friends. But he didn't have an actual proof so he let it go. He didn't really want to think about why the number one unpredictable shinobi of Konoha kept eating something just for the mere reason of annoying his friends.

"Sasuke!"

Sakura and Naruto arrived together. It wasn't surprising – Naruto had picked up Sakura a few times because her home was on his way. They both seemed happy and relaxed – which was something good because it meant the last shinobi war was long over and no new one was in sight. Normal missions, normal problems, normal jobs – who would have ever thought the word "normal" could sound so nice in his ears?

Sasuke nodded in greeting while Naruto grinned at him and Sakura smiled. Naruto now was as tall as he was – he had been moping about his size for the last five years – and they both were eye to eye again. Finally. It had bothered Sasuke that Naruto could hold his ground against him even though he wasn't as tall as him. Their sparring matches mostly ended in draws nowadays but there had been a time when Sasuke had been able to mop the floor with his best friend. Naruto was incredibly strong… And Sasuke was, too. He knew that was thanks to his friends. Naruto had been an annoying brat, and Sakura an annoying… _girl_, but they had trained and fought and at some point…

He pushed the thought away.

"What are you waiting for?" Naruto called, already at the door of the restaurant they had chosen. Sakura smiled at him and asked how his day had been so far while they walked towards the restaurant. Sasuke shrugged and held the door open for her.

"Nothing really interesting."

"As long as missions aren't interesting, we know everything is the way it is supposed to be."

"I guess…"

While they ordered, waited and ate, Naruto and Sakura did the greater part of the conversation. Sasuke was glad for it. He didn't feel like talking – he was glad he was able to relax a bit. His last mission hadn't been dangerous but the more exhausting. He ate slowly, listening to Naruto angrily complaining about some stupid diplomats and council elders and Sakura telling some anecdotes from the hospital. His eyes travelled down her face. She was a beautiful woman with strong features and pink, long hair she kept fixed in a loose bun. Her green eyes were full of energy. He remembered her looking at him in thousands of different situations – after they had fought Orochimaru, when she had been a child and head over heels in love with him, when they had trained together, when she had been sitting at Naruto's bed, waiting for him to wake from the coma he had been in for three weeks. She was a skilled, intelligent kunoichi and a medical nin of highest degree. And, first and over all, she was one of his two best friends. The two who had saved him from the darkness he'd almost fallen into…

She was telling Naruto how she had caught a few young patients cooking their own ramen in their hospital rooms and how she had punished them by making them eat although she knew they'd have digestive problems afterwards and Naruto was laughing so hard he almost forgot to eat.

Sasuke watched her, the way her hands moved when she gesticulated, the way her lips widened when she smiled, the way her eyes brightened. It was like seeing her the first time.

Naruto asked him a question and he had to force himself to concentrate.

"What?"

His friend's eyes were sparkling. "I bet you're glad you came today."

Sasuke frowned. "Why shouldn't I?"

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly and returned his concentration to his plate and his chopsticks.

"The food here is really good," he commented and threw a glance in Sakura's direction. She was sitting with her back to the window, Sasuke on the opposite side.

"And the view is really pretty today."

Sakura frowned in confusion.

Sasuke kicked his best friend under the table. Naruto didn't even flinch.

_Traitor._

So this was what realization felt like, he thought.


	3. 4 Annoying Shikamaru

**#4 – Annoying Shikamaru**

_Summary: Getting along with Shikamaru isn't easy. But his friends know which buttons to push. _

_Characters: Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji_

_Warnings: my own ideas of Ino's, Chouji's and Shikamaru's character. Other than that? None…_

_Set: Sometime in the future._

_

* * *

_

Getting along with Shikamaru isn't easy.

Team Ten – namely: Ino and Chouji – have known this for as long as they've known their friend. And seeing they have been together for as long as they can remember, it must have been a very, very long time.

Chouji actually does remember the day he met his oldest friend: The day he had been sitting on the roof of one of the tall buildings of Konoha, talking to his father about how he felt completely alone even with other children his age around him. Chouji wasn't as fast, as intelligent and as energetic as all the other children. He enjoyed a good meal – and post-meal snacks or pre-meal snacks whenever he found the timing was good, and he loved simple games which didn't require too much running and hiding and shouting. He immensely disliked any kind of bullying. Which was understandable, since he was the number one person to be bullied.

Shikamaru didn't care about how he looked, or how he talked, or how he moved at all. Shikamaru spent time with him just for the sake of who he was.

Ino didn't really remember when she met Shikamaru first. She probably had been a few months old, her mother and his mother had been good friends and had spent a lot of time together during their pregnancy and after it.

The first thing she _could_ remember was the little lazy boy who refused to play with her, complaining about how loud and difficult she was. She kicked him for his rudeness. He blocked her – or would have, if he had cared to move. It didn't work out that way. But she was quick, and she was a quick learner. Sometimes, she forced him to play with her. Sometimes she just ignored him and pretended to not see him. It was difficult. Somehow, her eyes always would wander in his direction. After years of watching him without seeing as much as a response from him, she mentally shrugged and forced herself to watch someone else.

When they became Team Ten, they had to get used to each other all over again even though they already knew each other.

After three months, they were a good team.

After three years, they worked together almost flawlessly.

After seven years, they were separated.

Chouji went to being a normal, if not extraordinarily strong jounin.

Shikamaru, having reached jounin level a few years earlier, became an important advisor to the Hokage.

Ino became an ANBU.

And after ten years and a war they still were alive, or at least more or less in one piece.

* * *

"Where the hell are my papers!"

Shikamaru was swearing, something that showed every intentional and unintentional listener that the senior jounin was seriously annoyed.

Chouji yawned and finished up the box of nuts that had been sitting on the desk when he entered.

"How should I know?"

Shikamaru stomped around his desk and shuffled through the mountains of paper sitting on the extra table to his right. There was nothing. He searched the pile of scrolls on the window sill. He skimmed through the scrolls in his bookshelf.

"What are you looking for?"

"I put them over there, damnit! Nothing disappears just like that – where the hell did they go now?"

"Can't you look for them later? We should be going…" Chouji was enjoying how worked-up his best friend could get over the simple loss of a few papers.

"I don't have time to start looking for them _later_! I have to go through them until tomorrow, and if I don't, stupid Naruto will either kill me or make me take another one of these troublesome missions to Suna. I have to find…"

"You're not looking for these?" A voice asks from behind their backs. Shikamaru and Chouji both spin around quickly to see a blonde woman sitting on the window sill, waving at them with a few bundled bunches of paper. Chouji chuckles.

"Hi, Ino."

Shikamaru stares at her and sighs. "You took them."

A grin spreads over the pretty features of their teammate. At twenty-five, Ino still looks beautiful, though the war has left its distinct marks in her face. Not only in her face. War has scarred them all.

"Give them back, Ino. I have to finish them immediately."

"No, you don't have to. The two of you are already ten minutes late. We had an arrangement for lunch – you remember, or has your brilliant mind failed you?"

"We'll come as soon as I have finished going through those papers."

"That will take a while, so I'm not giving them back right now. Move your sorry asses outside, _immediately_, and take me out for lunch, otherwise I'm telling Sakura you have been using some of the powers bestowed upon you in order to take off some time to just lie around lazily. And she'll tell Naruto, no doubt."

Chouji chuckles. "She got you, Shika."

Shikamaru stares at her. Somehow, he can't work up the anger and annoyance he needs when facing a seriously angry Ino.

"Okay. Put them back as soon as I leave the room and we'll meet outside. Deal?"

Ino smiles at him and waves. "You have fifty seconds."

Shikamaru sighs again and gestures for Chouji to follow him. Ino watches them leave and then skips over to the desk and deposits the papers. With a few strides, she's back on the window sill and jumps down to the street where her two friends already are waiting.

"So, let's have something to eat."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru mutters. His friends ignore him.

It's not difficult to get along with Shikamaru if you know how to take him.


	4. 5 Dodging

**#5 – Dodging**

_Summary: The worst thing is when War becomes routine. Kakashi and Rin know it's the most dangerous thing of all. _

_Characters: Team Yondaime, without Yondaime and Obito_

_Warnings: slight war and violence, but nothing overly bloody_

_Set: Some time after Obito died, during the Great War _

_

* * *

_

"Anything new?" A voice whispers behind Kakashi.

The young jounin doesn't move, his eyes are fixed onto the patch of forest he's covering. He just shakes his head slightly and the dark figure behind him disappears, probably delivering the report back to the village. Kakashi concentrates on staying alert. They have been on duty since the sun came up and it's slowly getting dark again. It's a waste of resources, positioning him and Rin as simple guards in the woods surrounding Konoha, but the village has neither the possibility nor the will to change anything about the situation. With the enemies slowly invading the Fire Country, it's only so much time left until the lines will reach Konoha.

He shakes off exhaustion and slips down to get to stand besides Rin. The medical nin looks as tired as he feels – tired and wary. The war has been going on for too long now to still hope for it to end soon.

A single movement with his head and she knows what to do. They're on the move again, moving through the tree tops with silent grace, watching their surroundings, the forest, the sky. Two people aren't enough for a shinobi team, but they still refuse to fill in Obito's place and Minato-sensei is on an S-rank mission and hasn't returned yet.

They see them before they are seen. They are at advantage – they know the forest, know the trees. The Cloud nin are used to the open plains, the wide and well-arranged grassland. Rin motions to Kakashi. He nods curtly. They know what to do.

It's just a reconnaissance team. Three Cloud nin, moving through the forest carefully, keeping watch for potential dangers and enemies. The genjutsu Rin traps them in isn't noticed at first. They're ready to strike before the leader starts wondering why the birds have stopped singing. Rin throws him an apologizing look. Kakashi shrugs and nods once more and they drop off the tree unseen and appear again between their enemies.

Instinct takes over.

* * *

The greatest danger in war is when fights become habitual. Both Kakashi and Rin know that, but they can't help it. Blood and blood-shed, fights and injuries are what they experience every day. The peaceful years before seem like a dream.

* * *

Dodge. Strike. Kick. Throw. Move. Dodge again. Seals.

There's a reason why teams are made up of two regular shinobi and a medical nin. Rin is a good fighter. Still, Kakashi misses Obito painfully. He fights for himself and for his lost friend, determined to get rid of the enemies as well as protect Rin.

Dodge. Kick. Strike. Kunai. Bunshin.

Suddenly, the forest is quiet once again. Rin kneels over one of the enemies, two others are out cold, Kakashi is standing over the last two. He quickly takes in their surroundings.

"There probably are more of them somewhere out there."

Rin carefully gets up. She has a cut on her left cheek but otherwise looks fine. "We have to – Kakashi!"

The Cloud nin at his feet makes an attempt to stab his left leg. Kakashi dodges the strike the last second possible. Rin's kunai embeds itself into the enemy's main artery.

Kakashi nods thanks. Rin nods back at him. It's too common, this kind of event, to lose words over it. They're fighting in a war.

* * *

Minato-sensei probably would have told him to be more careful the next time.

Obito probably would shout at him for letting Rin lose her smile.


	5. 1 Waking

**#1: Waking**

_Summary: Nightmares seem so real the second one lingers between sleep and waking. There's nothing worse than knowing one has failed._

_Characters: Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura_

_Warning: AU – or, more correctly, a different timeline._

_Set: Some time after Kylewin's brilliant fic "Time and again" and its sequel "Now and Here". Can be read as a stand-alone, though, or as a preliminary ending.  
_

_I've tried to talk to Kylewin in order to ask for her permission to post this story. She hasn't answered. I hope she doesn't mind my one shot.  
_

_If you haven't read "Time and Again": 25 years after Sasuke left, war broke out. Orochimaru has taken over Sasuke's body, defeated the shinobi from Hidden Leaf and comes to kill his greatest enemy: Naruto Uzumaki, the temporary Hokage. Naruto dies in the final battle but awakens again in the body of his 12-year-old self. Trying to right the wrongs of the past, he manages to save Sasuke from Orochimaru but is captured by the snake himself. Months later, Sasuke and Sakura save him, but he has been tortured badly. With everyone and everything he tries to save, Naruto loses someone and something else..._

_Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor "Time and again" and "Here and Now", the sequel. If you read it, tell Kylewin how great her story is! __You can find it in my favourites._

_

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_

Someone is screaming.

It's not a painful scream, not an alarmed cry. It's pure, raw terror washing trough a person that has neither the strength nor the possibility to shy away from the engulfing fear and horror and sadness that is threatening to drown her. It's the wordless scream of pain of a person losing something so important to her that she can't imagine living without it any more.

"_Naruto… Naruto!"_

Naruto tears open his eyes; his fists still clenched so hard his nails dig into his skin. His eyes dart to the right and to the left and he sees nothing, nobody, he is surrounded by absolute darkness. The screams ebb away, but the air still is full of terror. His throat is raw and dry and he realizes it had been him who had been screaming. He is back, back in the hellhole of a torture chamber, back in the merciless claws of Orochimaru. The stone is cold and hard beneath his broken and shattered body. His hands are shackled and pain emanates from the bruised flesh underneath the manacles. Terror washes over him. He never has been away - he never has been saved - he still endures this nightmare, is caught in the damp, cold darkness of his own hell. Sasuke is still in danger, Konoha never has been safe, and he - he hasn't done anything, hasn't been able to do _anything_, to save _anyone_, and this is the way he will pay for it. The door opens, a creaking, rusty sound, and here his torturer approaches.

A light turns on. He blinks in confusion.

He is not in his cell.

He's in a hospital bed and he can't remember how he has gotten there – yes, he can, but he doesn't care, it's not important right now. There's something else, something more important, something he has to tell. Something he has to ask immediately. Two people are standing next to his bed, are leaning over him – a tall man with dark hair and dark eyes and a lean woman with pink hair and emerald eyes.

Two pairs of worried eyes stare down at him.

"How do you feel?" Sakura asks. She places her hand on his head to take his temperature. It has been her who has shaken him awake; it seems they both have been keeping watch over him. For how long? He has been asleep, but he feels bone-tired. Sasuke is standing behind Sakura, his eyes unreadable but there's something in his expression that could be worry. At the sight of his best friend, the memories return in an onslaught of images, dark and red with blood, filled with an evil laughter. The terror washes over Naruto once again.

It's not the terror of finding himself in Orochimaru's cell once again.

It's the terror of a nightmare he has had for years, something that has been haunting him since he was twelve years old. A nightmare that hasn't left him, never, not when he found himself in another time, not when he was tortured to near death in a cold prison cell. It's a nightmare that returns, again and again, and though it doesn't feature monsters, the fear of it is strong enough to freeze him completely.

"Don't leave," he gasps and grabs Sasuke's shirt. He tries to get up, but his legs are stiff and refuse to move. His entire body refuses. He struggles to get up but can't.

"Don't leave," he repeats again, desperation layering his voice. The haunted look in his eyes is too much for both of his friends to bear; Sakura carefully sits down at his side and turns his face so he has to look at her. Sasuke moves nearer, making no move to free his shirt. He pulls a chair close and sits as well.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Sakura asks kindly and Naruto flinches. Just thinking of it makes all the pictures come back to life once again. He squeezes his eyes close.

"You – Sasuke, you left Konoha," he whispers while fear – against all rationality – still washes over him. "Orochimaru promised to help you gain power so you could kill Itachi and you left, I followed you and fought you but you wouldn't come back. And Sakura and I, we tried to find you but we couldn't and then Orochimaru took over your body and we had to fight you and Konoha was destroyed and there was that snake in your body, looking at us through your eyes, laughing while killing… Killing…"

* * *

_Sakura. Dead on the ground. Sasuke, standing over her – Orochimaru's heartless, terrifying laugh coming from his lips, his red eyes glowering._

_Hinata. Her own blood red and wet underneath her lithe body. The wound too big for her tiny frame._

_Ino. Neji. Kiba. Shino. Shikamaru. __Chouji. Tenten. Anko. Genma. Kakashi. _

_He can continue the list endlessly._

_

* * *

_

"Shhh," Sakura whispers and pulls him close. Her arms wrap around his shaking frame. _He hasn't gained a pound, still is the fragile frame of bones and skin his torturer has made him. He didn't have any time to recover. Since he has been back, he has been fighting constantly, first the Jinchuuriki, then Danzo, then Orochimaru. She hates them, hates them all for doing this to him. _"It's okay, Naruto. You're safe. Orochimaru is dead, we killed him, remember? You and me and Sasuke killed him and you were injured badly. You didn't wake up for three weeks. But you'll be fine now, and Orochimaru is dead, and Sasuke would never betray Konoha. You know that."

Sasuke's voice is surprisingly gentle. He even manages to suppress the anger flowing through him when he remembers what Orochimaru did to his best friend.

"I don't need a snake like _that one_ to become stronger. I can grow on my own – on my own and with my friends, with you and Sakura. You know that, Naruto. You taught me that. I'd never leave Konoha."

Naruto squeezes his eyes shut. The rough fabric of Sasuke's shirt in his hands is reassuring, as are Sakura's arms around him. Slowly, slowly, his heart beat slows down. The trembling recedes. The terror is washed away, slowly, carefully, by the mere presence of the people who are most precious to him in the entire world.

His breathing returns to normal. His eyes fall shut. When he's asleep again, Sakura carefully puts him down and turns to Sasuke.

"He'll be fine, now he has awakened," she says, and for the first time in three weeks, there's a real smile on her face. A little, tired smile, but a smile nevertheless. Sasuke looks at her and gives her one of his half-smiles.

"Everything will be fine," he says reassuringly and lifts her from the bed as if she weighted nothing. Sakura is too tired to protest.

"You need to sleep as well. You've been on duty the whole day and you have a shift again tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll watch him."

He carries her to the second bed in the room and carefully lets her sink into the covers. She's already asleep when her head touches the pillows.

Sasuke returns to Naruto's bed and sits down, watching his friend sleep. This time, it's a normal sleep, not the coma he has been in for the last weeks. Blond hair is spread out over the pillow.

The Uchiha sighs silently. Orochimaru is dead. The war has ended. Konoha is safe again. And his two most important people will be fine again. He grins when Naruto's mouth falls open slightly. He'll never leave them.

Darkness falls once again as he switches off the light.


	6. 6 Growing

**#6 – Growing**

_Summary: Ino knows she's only an average kunoichi at best. But there's something she has to do. There is something she wants to protect. _

_Characters: Ino, Anko_

_Warning: Anko. That should explain everything, shouldn't it? ^^_

_Set: Alternate Reality#2 in my list. Still Konoha, though. If you want – prequel to "Blood-red Tears"_

_

* * *

_

„You're just a pampered little _lady,_" Mitarashi Anko snorts and kicks the still figure.

Ino is too exhausted to even flinch at the hard boots her teacher forces into her ribs. "Go back home and find a husband with whom you can have a whole bunch of babies. Maybe they'll be able to serve Konoha better than your useless self can."

Her entire body is aching. She's so tired she can't even stand – at least she believes she can't stand until she forces herself upright and takes a step towards her instructor. Her short, blond hair has escaped the pony tail she has forced it into and strands are hanging in her face, clotted with dried blood and cold sweat and mud.

Her face and legs – and probably every inch of her body – are covered with darkening bruises at different stages of coloring. Her arms feel so heavy she doesn't know whether she can lift them. It takes a huge effort to focus her eyes on the woman in front of her.

"So what?" Anko challenges and stems both her hands into her sides. She doesn't even look remotely exhausted, merely immensely annoyed.

"You want to tell me you were wrong all along and you don't have it in you to be an ANBU? A wise decision, lady. Go back home into your perfect world. This is nothing for you."

Her voice drops to a cadence in which it almost sounds friendly.

"Being an ANBU is a hard job. You're a good kunoichi, about average, but you're not remotely strong enough for ANBU. Maybe you should try becoming a medical nin. You're soft and nice – it would definitively suit you better than the life full of blood and fights you claim you want."

"I can't go back." A soft whisper escapes her lips.

"What did you say?"

"I can't go back."

Ino repeats the words a second time, and the more she repeats them, the more sure she becomes of them. She can't go back. She has watched all the people in her life finding the perfect path for themselves: Sakura becoming a medical nin, Chouji reaching the status of a jounin and sensei for a genin team, Shikamaru eventually becoming advisor to the Hokage. And she herself – she has been nothing compared to them. She has had no aim, no dream, no real goal in her life. She has watched time pass by and has been left behind, somehow, and now there's nothing else left for her. What she's doing now – it's something she has thought about but always pushed to the background of her mind. Now there's nothing else left for her but to again reach for it. It's her way to protect the ones she loves.

_I'll become ANBU._

Anko shakes her head, something in her eyes that almost resembles pity.

"There is more to being an ANBU that just heroism, lady. ANBU are assassins, murderers. They do the dirt jobs behind the scenes. Many people can only sleep undisturbed because we do the things no one else wants to do. You can't expect it to be an honorable profession."

"It's not because of that."

"It is because you're the only one left that hasn't accomplished anything yet?"

"No."

"So why the hell are you here?"

"Because."

Ino is nothing if not stubborn. She'll become an ANBU. She shifts back into her battle stance. Anko crosses her arms in front of her chest and sighs.

"Lady, you've been pampered and loved all your life. You never saw the brutal reality of what ANBU do. They're killers, silent assassins. There's nothing romantic about hunting down criminals or even killing innocent people who happened to be at the wrong place at the entirely wrong time. There's nothing heroic in killing people while their children cry and plead. Life is no dollhouse. This world isn't made for soft and nice people like you who have too much of a heart. Being an ANBU of Konoha means all the dirty, bloody work, not even receiving thanks in return."

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Ino forces out between her clenched teeth and launches herself at her teacher.

"I'll train as hard as possible. I'll do whatever you tell me. I'll do whatever it takes. I'll serve Konoha the way I chose."

Anko is ready for her. Ino throws a punch at her head and is blocked, at the same time, her other hand comes down with a kunai.

"Left-handed," Anko comments. "Nice try, but sloppy."

Her weapon is swept away by a blow to her left wrist. Ino dodges a kick at her side and flips backwards only to attack anew. Her leg comes up but Anko blocks her and grabs her ankle. Again, Ino goes flying and lands on the muddy ground of the training field. She's up again in no seconds.

"You're defense is open," her teacher tells her and jabs her fingers into Ino's ribs. She cringes but doesn't let go of Anko's hand she has caught. Instead, she uses it as a lever to whirl around and to attack from the back. Anko lets her use her arm and adds to her spin. Ino almost goes down by the raw force behind it. She catches herself and lashes out – "not fast enough" – dodges a roundhouse kick to her head by falling to her hands, catapults herself upwards again and barely even touches Anko. "Sloppy movements," her teacher scolds her and reaches around. She never softens a blow. Ino staggers backwards, doubling over with the pain that erupts in her stomach.

"Never lose sight of your enemy," the woman concludes as she follows her student and kicks her a final time, sending her flying against the post in the middle of the training grounds. Ino slides down the wet wood and lies there, unable to move. The pain is blinding.

"You see, little lady?" Anko tells her. "You're way not good enough. One week and you're already at your limits. Go back. Find something else."

Despite her words, Anko feels a slight bit of amazement. She has seen many shinobi who claimed they wanted to join ANBU. No one ever has gone past this point. While ANBU are elite, they're either born with natural abilities to join the ranks or get into it because of other special abilities. Never has she seen a normal, average shinobi going past the point of being beaten to pulp and still wanting to continue becoming part of them.

This girl surprises her. Again.

"I'll become ANBU," she hisses and slowly, painfully, tries to get to her feet again. When she shifts back into her fighting stance, Anko just stares. "It's my way of serving my village."

She's slow, painfully slow, she has been training hard for the last week and she's utterly exhausted. Still, her fist comes towards Anko and she barely has time to dodge. She hasn't expected the girl to continue. Instinctively, she kicks at her and Ino goes down again. This time, she passes out at her feet. Anko leans over her, sighting.

"What am I supposed to do with you?" She asks softly. "You're determined. You surprise me… Not bad for your first week."

As if the girl weighted nothing, she lifts her up and starts towards the hospital.

"You know… You remind me of someone I knew. She was as… _determined_… as you are."

There is a long silence.

"I guess we both have been growing lately."


	7. 7 Dreaming

**#7 - Dreaming**

_Summary: Sakura doesn't remember the plots of her dreams. She remembers the smiles. _

_Character: Sakura, minor Team Seven _

_Warnings: No SasuSaku, for those who are looking for it. No pairings at all. Last chance to run._

_Set: story-unrelated, future fic_

_

* * *

_

Shinobi never slept deep or long. It was a habit; training pounded into their heads and bodies until they woke at the smallest sound, the slightest touch, the faintest hint of danger.

Sakura never slept deeply.

What she did, though, was dream. She couldn't explain why she woke up many mornings, remembering exactly what she had dreamed about. Or, rather, not what she had dreamed about but of whom she had been dreaming. She saw the faces, the smiles. Sometimes anger was written unto them, sometimes smiles, and she woke up knowing she had dreamed about a certain person once again. If she liked the person, she woke up in a good mood. If she didn't like the ones her dreams had decided to let her see her mood would be unbearable. Naruto called these days _Sakura's dog days_ and while he didn't care much for her bad moods anyone else tried to go out of her way for at least the first few hours of the day.

Thinking back, she could never remember when it had started. Or how, or even why. It didn't really matter.

* * *

She would dream about Sasuke. It mostly was about Sasuke. Sometimes about Kakashi-sensei and Naruto as well. The dreams didn't come regularly, and weren't always the same.

She seldom remembered the events. She remembered the faces.

She dreamt of a smiling Sasuke.

He was laughing and talking to her and teasing Naruto at the same time. Or he was thoughtful and introverted. Or he was sad, probably remembering his parents, his family and his loss. Sometimes he seemed to be joking. Sometimes he was talking to her with a serious expression – since she never remembered what these dreams actually were about she couldn't say which topics they discussed – or he simply listened to her.

These dreams probably began after he left Konoha.

She never dreamed of him destroying villages, killing people, taking lives. She never saw him with Orochimaru or Itachi or Akatsuki.

And in her dreams they were young. There weren't scars all over her arms, there weren't dark rings under Sasuke's eyes and hate lacing his voice. They weren't carrying weapons.

It was her, Sakura, and Sasuke, the boy she had been in love with since she could remember, and in her dreams they were friends. They weren't _those_ kinds of dreams.

Sometimes, Kakashi-sensei and Naruto would join them. Naruto and Sasuke would banter and fight and ignore each other as they used to do but there wouldn't be the painful strain of rivalry. They would be more like the brothers they should have been. Naruto wouldn't have this bitterness in his eyes and he would insult Sasuke. And she would defend him and Naruto would shout at her and she would hit him and Sasuke would lean back, watching them both with a half-smile of his on his lips. Sometimes they would just talk. Kakashi-sensei would either take part in those discussions or just sit there, smiling behind his mask, his arms crossed in front of his chest, and there wouldn't be guilt in the way he looked at them. Or they would simply _not_ talk, just sitting there or wandering through whatever place her mind came up with.

* * *

Sakura would wake up in the middle of the night, remembering the smile on Sasuke's face and the scowl on Naruto's, vowing to remember how they had gotten those when she got up in the morning. When she got up, she would remember she had been talking to her friends again but the topics would have vanished from her memory.

Not so their smiles.

* * *

The night Sasuke left Konoha, lying on the cold stone bench at the North Gate, she dreamed of a little boy sitting in a corner, crying as if his heart was breaking. But she couldn't get near enough to see his face.

Sasuke left Hidden Leaf.

But sometimes he – or his younger image, the one Sakura remembered so well – would visit her in her dreams. If she was too exhausted she'd black out the second her head touched her pillow and would remember nothing the next day. If she was calm and had enough sleep the dreams sometimes would come. There was no sense in forcing them because then they'd stay away. But every now and then she would wake up and feel herself smiling.

Outside her dreams, the reality kept claiming its pretenses. Time went on. Sasuke killed Itachi. Sasuke joined Akatsuki. Sasuke attacked Konoha.

In Sakura's dreams they still were children and they were friends and Hidden Leaf was peaceful.

* * *

Then, Sasuke returned.

He simply walked into Konoha, dragging with him a severely injured Naruto, barely being able to stand himself.

Sakura saved both their lives.

For a long, long time her dreams were haunted by the whiteness of Naruto's face and the deep gashes in Sasuke's side and the blood - _somucheverywhereohgodsomuch - _the metallic stench in the air and the feeling of the hot and wet crimson fluid running beneath her frantically working hands.

Sasuke returned because there was no other place he could go.

Now that he finally was back she found it hard to look at him. He was dark and still, a shadow in the background of her mind. He didn't talk much. After years of mulling over all the things she wanted to tell him she found there was nothing to say any more.

She didn't hate him.

He had done terrible things and had hurt so many people she cared for, including herself.

And she didn't hate him.

She just didn't feel anything anymore.

* * *

And she didn't dream any longer.

Or at least now she wouldn't remember anything. No faces, no smiles, no laughter, no blood, no injuries. Sometimes she'd wake up covered in cold sweat, not knowing what she had dreamed. Some nights she'd fall into her bed dead tired and wouldn't remember anything the next morning. Some nights she would suddenly wake up with tears in her eyes. But there was no memory left, not a single one.

She didn't know what to tell Sasuke.

She didn't know how to forgive him.

She didn't know how to forgive him if she didn't hate him.

She was a prisoner.

She was imprisoned by him, by the feelings she had for him and by what he had done to her _(and to Naruto, because at some point the noisy, annoying brat had become the one person she turned to when she needed help)_. She was a prisoner of her own mind and of Sasuke's actions and he didn't even know it. He had – figuratively – given her a huge house with a huge garden and thousands of things to do in order not to get bored over but she still was a prisoner.

And she couldn't even hate him for it because she knew he hadn't done it on purpose. He hadn't even _wanted _to do it. She had been the one who had put herself into this situation, she alone.

After years of trying to get him to like her, after years of wondering whether – _if_ – he'd come back, whether he would miss her, whether he had ever loved her, she had been the one to create her cage. She had wondered whether she would hate him and concluded she'd always love him instead and now she didn't know how to go on.

Now she was a prisoner of her own dreams.

* * *

Until one day, maybe years later, she woke up smiling.

She remembered a Sasuke who had subtly scoffed at a sulking Naruto and a Kakashi who had been grinning fondly. The emptiness was being filled, bit by bit. The bitterness was being softened with every meeting, every word and every glance. The guilt was receding, giving way to something else. And the cage door was open. Outside was the wide blue sky and golden sunshine.

And, just like that, Sakura was free again.


	8. 8 Remembering

**#8 – Remembering**

_Summary: There's nothing more precious a person can give another than a recollection of moments. Konoha has a person that has this ability._

_Characters: Various. Hinata, Tsunade, Sakura, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Neji, Gaara… And, of course, Naruto._

_Warnings: -_

_Set: future-fic_

* * *

If there is something precious a person can give to another person it is a recollection of moments.

There are people who appear in our life and disappear from it again without leaving as much as a single memory. And there are people who alter us without meaning to, who give us moments of laughter, of happiness, joy, sadness and love we always will remember.

Naruto is such a person.

* * *

Jiraiya sometimes wonders when he has actually started to care for this energetic, annoying boy. It's not like he's obliged to like him just because he's his godson, or at least was _supposed_ to be and might have become if his father – Jiraiya's student – had lived long enough to introduce his son to his teacher.

The boy's a nuisance.

He's chaotic and slow and annoying and aggravating and just _so unlike him_. But he cares for his friends, too. He wants to protect the entire village. He believes nothing is impossible as long as he keeps fighting for it.

Jiraiya will always remember the day Naruto returns to Konoha from an S-rank mission, bleeding and injured and dragging himself along only with the help of another shinobi – but smiling so happily the old man feels like weeping. His student collapses in front of the gates.

Jiraiya is with him within seconds. The boy sees him and the smile even widens while blood is slowly draining from him. Next to him there's a dark figure, staring into nothingness. Black hair, black eyes, white face.

"Ero-Sennin," the boy whispers. "Meet Sasuke. He has come back home."

It's the moment Jiraiya knows that he hasn't done all too bad with teaching his youngest student. It's also the moment he realizes he has fallen for him a long, long time ago.

* * *

Sakura has never particularly worried about what the people around her say when she walks down the road.

For once, it never was as if people _had_ something to say about her they didn't dare to tell her to the face. She was a normal girl, she grew up in a normal home, she had a – fairly normal – job and behaved quite normal anyway. There was a time when people would start whispering about her possibly dating the _kyuubi_ – the rumor spread through Konoha faster than ink diffuses in water. Knowing the people were trying to provoke a reaction from her she ignored it. It subsided gradually, both because Naruto slowly became a respected shinobi and because she used to spend the same amount of time with him as she did with Sasuke when he finally returned. The _three of them_ spent a lot of time together.

Sakura never actually was bothered by rumors. She knew Naruto had suffered from them, though, and she was determined to protect him whenever possible. She didn't expect what happened when they returned from a routine mission, two years after Sasuke had returned: people in the street turned their heads and started whispering and eventually she realized they weren't gossiping about her or Naruto but about _Sasuke._ It was so unexpected she didn't even know what to say, much less how to react. Sasuke, used to hateful reactions when it came to him, pushed his fists into the pockets of his uniform and continued to stare straight ahead, trying – and failing – to pretend he didn't care.

Naruto gave the spectators one hard glare and asked them whether they had never seen shinobi returning to their village.

Not only Sakura but all the passers-by stood, transfixed by the intensity in his gaze and the tone of his voice. He hadn't even raised it.

That moment, Sakura asked herself when Naruto had grown up without her even noticing. And how he had grown up to being such a strong, determined, loyal and intelligent person. The moment passed when Naruto, embarrassed by the attention they gave him, grinned widely and declared he didn't know what he was talking about because he was so hungry.

Dutifully, his stomach grumbled.

* * *

To Hyuuga Neji, fate always seemed to laugh at him.

He was the most gifted shinobi of his clan. Regrettably, he only was a member of the branch family. He would never rise above the ranks of those who were weaker than him but lead the family. He was quick, he was strong, he was talented in any possible area of expertise and yet he never was good enough.

Which meant it _had to be _fate_._ Why else wouldn't he be allowed to rise above the chains that held him? Only fate could be so cruel to make him subordinate while people who weren't even remotely as talented as him were destined to become the head of the family.

Two moments made him change his point of view.

The first one was the one moment on his very first chuunin exam, when he fought what was supposed to be the weakest and dumbest genin of the entire tournament – and _lost_. It was then that he saw – actually _saw – _what his cousin saw in this boy, and he listened – actually _listened, for once – _what the head of the Hyuuga family wanted to tell him. And suddenly, just like that, he was free. He saw the sky overhead and the birds soaring high and heard Naruto's words. He was free. He never would have thought life could be that beautiful. _Your eyes are better than mine – _it was the highest praise he could imagine for the blond boy who had mopped the floor with Neji's sorry ass, had verbally kicked him into the middle of the next week and laughed fate in the face.

The second one is the moment he holds the decree in his own hands and reads it with his own eyes. He can't remember how long he had been waiting to see it – he had even started to believe it was impossible. But there it is, black on white, and Hinata is standing next to him, smiling brightly. He reads it again. And again. The words are beautiful. There is a lot of blah-blah and some phrases he doesn't bother to read because they're obviously lawsuit terms. But the main intention of the paper is clear.

Naruto has promised change to the Hyuuga Clan. Now, that he actually is Hokage, he remembered his promise. The words on the paper speak of a new beginning. That's not it – it's only a small change, a tiny difference. But it has potential to be a great change one day.

Just like _he _has.

* * *

Tsunade never thought it was possible for her to actually feel what it is like to have children of her own.

Maybe she should go with "grandchildren" because Naruto is the son of Namikaze Minato, who was Jiraiya's student – which makes her, if unofficially, _something like _his grandmother. But Tsunade never particularly liked to see herself as an old person so she goes with _mother_ instead – at least when nobody listens, and only if she's particularly drunk and painfully honest with herself.

And when she sees him standing before her, solemnly accepting the robe and the hat, proudly vowing to protect their village, she admits to herself what she has already known for such a long time.

_He's not my little boy any longer. He belongs to the village now._

She freezes immediately. Where did that thought come from? She has never remotely spent much time with him. She never cared for him the way a mother should care for her son. She has seen him skip in and out of her life again and again, watched him come and leave, getting stronger, fighting his own fights, learning to control his thoughts, words and actions.

She never was the person to settle down and have a family. Maybe she would have, with the right person at her side. But it never came down to it so she chose to push it aside.

Now she steps back and Naruto stands before the crowd of shinobi and villagers, the folds of the white and red robe restlessly moving in the light summer breeze. And the crowd cheers, claps, smiles and hails its new leader.

That is the moment Tsunade locks in her heart to remember it forever. Because as much trouble she has caused and has gotten into during her life, this is the one thing she definitely has done _right_.

* * *

The first thing Kakashi thinks when he sees Naruto for the first time is something like "He doesn't look like Sensei at all."

Which, of course, isn't exactly right. Truth be said, Naruto looks _exactly_ like Minato-sensei, like Namikaze Minato who taught him what he knows about teamwork, like the youngest jounin who was given the youngest genin as a student. Like the great warrior, the Yellow Flash, who led his team in many wartime missions, like the Fourth Hokage who still used to train his team every now and then just for the sake of getting together and not forgetting to enjoy life even though missions and a pending war were daily routine.

If Naruto had never opened his mouth Kakashi could have believed he'd gotten away with a spitting image of his teacher. But as soon as Naruto started speaking – or rather _yelling – _he knew there had been something wrong entirely. This boy couldn't be Minato-sensei's son.

It didn't take Kakashi long to see how much of his father actually could be found in his student. It took him almost two years to _accept_ the fact that Naruto was his teacher's son.

He realized it the moment he found the boy lying on the ground, his eyes half-closed, his body badly bruised and beaten. Next to him was Sasuke's hitai-ate, else than that, there was nothing to be seen. Kakashi realized with the rising dread of a person who is able to take in and access a situation within seconds that he was not only to late but that he had not even been part of their desperate attempt to bring Sasuke back. He had done nothing – absolutely _nothing_ – to save his third student and was just on time to bring his second student back home.

Kakashi wasn't blind and he wasn't stupid, either.

He was well aware of the destruction, of the tell-tale signs of a fight taken place. Naruto's body as well as his surroundings served as irrevocable proof. Realization dawned on him, taking his breath and making his fists clench: Naruto was _exactly_ like Minato-sensei. Absolutely. He had fought for his friend, for his teammate, until he wasn't able to stand up any more. He had shown resolve, determination and the fierce will to protect someone important – and, ultimately, had failed. Blond hair matted with blood and mud fell over half-closed, light-blue eyes. Kakashi buried the memories and carefully lifted Naruto unto his shoulders. Somewhere trough their journey back home, the boy drifted from unconsciousness to exhausted sleep. The words he whispered were not meant for Kakashi's ears.

At that moment, he vowed to help his student become strong, no matter what. In order to fulfill his dream – Minato-sensei's dream.

* * *

Change comes slowly to the country of the wind.

It's not always welcome in the everlasting desert. The sun, the wind, the sand – they are constant reminders, eternal in their dream of heat and sun and simmering light. Who searches for change impatiently will be lost between the endless dunes. Who forgets that perennial ghosts watch this country won't survive for long.

Gaara likes to think he's like the desert: change comes to him slowly, seemingly lurking behind the next corner but never once wanting to be found. For years he has lived under the thick, suffocating knowledge that change wasn't something that applied to him. He was Gaara of the Sand, vessel of Shukaku, the one-tailed beast. He was the child with power strong enough to kill grown men. He was the dark figure mothers told their children to watch out for if they didn't come home before dinner, he was the merciless weapon Kazekage-Sama – not father_, _never _father_ – had created. The more he wished it to be different, the more he wanted it to change, the more it would manifest. Not even his siblings were at ease when he was around.

The world changed.

The desert didn't, and even though Gaara grew up, he didn't change.

It has to be a breathtaking event, a spectacular happening, to influence the ever-lasting continuity of the desert.

It was a breathtaking fight, a spectacular defeat Gaara experienced in order to _believe_ he was able to change.

He met Naruto Uzumaki.

Gaara left Hidden Leaf Village in a thoughtful mood. He had to think about what would happen next. How was he supposed to react? How was he supposed to behave? He knew something had changed, and he knew it was good it had changed, but what was it? And how did it manifest? Naruto had told him to find his own answer. He guessed he'd be searching for a while.

Three years later, they met again.

He had wondered whether Naruto still knew him. Maybe he had forgotten about him, maybe time had forced him to do so – and, besides, who wanted to remember an angry, bitter little boy who had almost killed ones best friends?

Naruto saw him, and offered him his hand, and smiled at him.

Gaara smiled back – something he had learned, eventually – and, in that moment, knew his first friend would always be his best friend. They didn't even need words to communicate.

* * *

Remembering the past, every second, every minute, every moment she had had with Naruto, was precious to Hinata.

From the shy girl with a massive crush she had grown into a – at least Sakura said so – beautiful woman. She had, eventually, been able to suppress (not to totally get rid of it, it wasn't as if something like habit and training and fear and embarrassment died down so easily) her overwhelming insecurity she felt whenever someone talked to her. She'd found her place in the world, finally. And, more importantly: She had found her place in her Clan.

Of course, it had been Naruto who had helped her, even though he probably wasn't even aware of it.

"_No," Hinata whispered. Her father's head jerked up in surprise. _

"_Excuse me?"_

_Hyuuga Hiashi always had had an impressive voice. It was deep and rich and could, if applied correctly, probably slice through stone. Hinata knew every nuance, every pitch of her father's voice. He wasn't angry, he wasn't annoyed. Right now, he was plainly surprised – shocked beyond belief. _

"_I won't comply with your wishes, father. I'm very sorry, but this is inacceptable."_

_Her father stared. Hinata watched the cracks in the floor tiles, her head bowed. Her hands started to tremble. She curled them into fists inside the long sleeves of her robes. She remembered Naruto's expression when she had told him about her father's plans. He had stared at her in horror. "Do you want it?" His voice had been calm, regardless. She had shaken her head frantically. "Well, don't tell me. Tell him."_

"_Hinata. As the heiress to the Clan, you must not think of what you personally want but of what would be best for the Clan…"_

_Hinata squeezed her eyes close, took a deep breath and raised her head so she could see her father. She made a huge effort in pushing down her natural shyness and tried to make her voice as self-assured as possible. Surprisingly, resolve spread through her entire body as soon as she made the decision to stand up to the head of her family. Her hands stopped shaking. Her voice was firm. Her gaze didn't leave his face._

"_No, father. I'm not agreeing to an arranged marriage. I will serve my Clan with everything I have, but I won't agree to this. I'll lead the Family in my own way."_

Her father didn't talk about the arrangement any more. In fact, he almost seemed… It was strange, she never had thought about this before. But she felt something like pride in his gaze when his eyes travelled over her. From that day on, he asked for her opinion and let her attend the Clan councils and let her make decisions.

Hinata wondered whether Naruto would ever know how much stronger he made people feel when he gave them moments like that to remember. Did he even notice he was giving them such precious things? Did he never feel like he was giving away too much? She thought about it and let it fall again. Naruto, she reasoned, probably felt like he had more than enough to give. In return, she would try to give him such moments as well.

* * *

Sometimes Naruto wonders why people look at him with some kind of awe in their eyes. He isn't special, nothing like that. He is just plainly normal, a normal shinobi of his village. And he loves Hidden Leaf, along with all her inhabitants.

When the time came, the people of Konoha-Gakure chose their new Hokage unanimously.

* * *

_A/N: There aren't many chapters for his anthology left. In fact, I believe the next one will be the last. _


	9. 9 Watching

**# 9 – Watching**

_Summary: Sakura sneaks into the dark house. The inhabitants don't notice her. Their unfailing radar for danger is not programmed to her. _

_Characters: Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Pairing: Naruto/Sasuke_

_Warning: See Pairing. Last chance to run. Also, this will be the last chapter in this collection. There are plenty of other oneshots of mine still to be published, so look out for them if you're interested._

_Set: Almost-sequel to „Dreaming"_

* * *

The autumn night is cool and the sky above is clear and crisp with a myriad of stars when Sakura arrives at the house at the end of the street. These are the outskirts of Hidden Leaf and only few people live here. Only a few lamps light her way but she knows it by heart, knows every stone and every corner.

She pauses to search for the key hidden behind a loose wall stone and lets herself in, quietly and carefully. She doesn't want to disturb the calmness that has fallen unto the house. It's dark and there is no sound to be heard.

The world is holding its breath.

Sakura passes through the hallway and is careful to enable the trap whose wire runs along the floor and up the wall, a thin line almost invisible against the dark stone of the ground. She remembers to slip out of her sandals and puts them down at the kitchen door but she doesn't enter. Moonlight shines through the windows, cold and soft. The house is so silent her own heart beats seem unnaturally loud to her ears.

Dark shadows are cast against the walls of the living-room, where she – not unexpectedly – finds what she has been looking for. The contrast between light and shadow is mirrored in the two people who seem to have fallen asleep on the couch: Sasuke with his dark hair and his dark clothes, Naruto with his fair hair and his yellow T-shirt. Sakura slowly tiptoes closer, not wanting to wake them but at the same time knowing that no one else save her could actually sneak up on the two of them. Their unfailing radar for danger is not programmed to her. She feels honored.

Sakura knows they have had a hard week. There has been a lot of work; a lot of missions, the young Hokage and one of his best jounin have any right to fall asleep like that. Still she is surprised by their expression: both have a calm air about them, even peaceful. Probably because they fell asleep together, she thinks and almost – but only almost – feels envy. It disappears as quickly as it has shown itself.

Carefully, she rounds the sofa and settles down in the armchair on the other side of the room. She knows she probably shouldn't do that – if either of them wakes and finds her there it should be okay, but if they both wake and don't see her it might become awkward. She'll either have to leave soon or hope they see her as soon as they wake up. She hasn't been able to sleep the last nights, even though exhaustion and stress cut deep lines into her face. Now, in the armchair, her eyes resting on Naruto and Sasuke, she feels like she'll finally be able to find peace.

It is strange how much a person can change.

A few years ago, she would have hated the sight of Naruto and Sasuke on the couch like that, asleep, their arms and legs touching as if they unconsciously were drifting towards each other in their sleep. Knowing there were people who were homosexual wasn't the problem, knowing her best friends were _definitively_ was something she had needed some time to get over. The first thing she noticed was that the revelation didn't call forth any jealousy on her part.

Strangely, she already seemed to have gotten over her feelings for Sasuke. It might have taken her years: she hadn't been sure whether she had completely forgotten him even after he returned to Konoha a few years ago. But then she had realized her love had, somehow, somewhere, changed into normal, friendly feelings for him.

She had always wanted too much.

She had wanted Sasuke as a lover and Naruto as a best friend and Ino's acceptance and Kakashi's and Tsunade-sama's attention. She had wanted to be respected and well-trained and noticed. She had wanted to be brilliant and intelligent and beautiful and loved.

She should have known that if one wanted everything one was left with nothing.

She had given up on a dream and instead gained the two best friends she could ever have imagined. She wouldn't want it to be any different any more.

And, plus, seeing Naruto and Sasuke together like… like _that_ gave her the feeling she had done something right after all. Sasuke was more human and _softer; _Naruto was calmer and more grown-up. By his standards, at least. They still bantered and fought and threw stupid nicknames at each other but Sakura had gained the impression they only did it to hold up pretense… And when they dropped their façade while she was there she felt honored, once again.

Yawning quietly, she pulled down the blanket that had been lying on the armchair and curled into it. Soon, her eyes fell closed and she was asleep.

Another nuance of breathing was added to the soft symphony.


End file.
